The Way Back Home
by The Jinchuuriki Tragedy
Summary: A traitor, lost on the road less travelled, returns to where it all ended in search of new directions. Instead, he finds the one he left behind, waiting to show him the way back home. Because Naruto has always known that for Sasuke, home was the destination all along.


Disclaimer: NARUTO and all of its characters, settings, etc. are the property of Masashi Kishimoto. The author of this fan work is in no way associated with the owner/s and creator/s of any previously copyrighted material. No copyright infringement is intended.

Timeline: Shippuden, post-Fourth Shinobi World War arc, will diverge from canon due to the slowness of manga updates.

* * *

_And wipe the mark of madness from my face  
Show me that your love will never change  
If my yesterday is a disgrace  
Tell me that you still recall my name_  
~ _Lights_

* * *

**The Way Back Home**

[For the wonderful Pipe-stream]

_"Grow up. Death comes with being a shinobi. There are times when death is hard to accept, but if you don't get over it, there's no future..."_

Oh how those words had come back to bite her in the ass.

_What was I thinking back then?_

She had spoken those words bitterly, her mind backtracking to a time when her life had been nothing but a broken existence, when living only meant watching her loved ones die. Out of all of them, she'd been dealt the worst hand, and there was no way she could've won that game. She'd let it cost her too much.

In a blink of an eye, she'd had nothing left, nothing but pain. She tried to deal with it by burying her loved ones, tried to give their deaths a finality for her own sake.

But her heart had rebelled against it, had refused and rejected what was so painfully obvious.

_Death is hard to accept? It's fucking impossible._

She didn't want that for him. Life had dealt him no cards and all the bad luck, but he'd gotten this far on his own two feet, had managed to hold on by his fingertips and gained from the game. And she wanted it to stay that way.

_I won't let you lose anyone...not the way I did. Even if it means sparing _him_..._

But she was out of time, and she hadn't gotten any closer to figuring something out. It didn't help that all the cards in her hands were the crappy ones, none of them worth enough to secure her a win. It was a lose-lose situation she was dealing with here.

A sharp rap at her door chased the colour from her cheeks, those vulnerable emotions fleeing from her face to hide behind the hardened, weathered mask of a seasoned warrior. She couldn't let her guard down now. For his sake.

"Tsunade-sama."

She bowed her head. "Homura, Koharu."

The latter coughed expectantly, squinting at her from behind the polished glass of his spectacles. "The missing-nin, Tsunade-sama."

Her raised eyebrows were the only sign that she had heard. "What's he doing now?"

_Avoidance is the only card I can play at the moment. Just give me some time to think._

But the odds were against her.

A cleared throat sliced through the silence, cutting straight back to business. "I think you misunderstand us. We are not speaking of what he has done, but what he deserves for doing it."

She studied the aged council member for a moment. "And?"

"The council has come to a decision."

_Where you have failed to do so on your own._

She could read those unspoken words in the elder's narrowed eyes, and she knew, she knew what they were planning, what they had planned all along...and she knew too late that she'd fallen for their bluff. She could've played her highest card, she could've won this one. But something had held her back...and that hesitation would cost her dearly.

"Your plan...?" she questioned tonelessly, mouth dry with dread.

_I should've known._

The unfairness of it all tasted bitter on her tongue, and it took all her strength not to reach for that bottle of sake, to forget it all, if only for a moment. Because she was too late...again. And now the brat would pay the price for her mistake.

_I never knew...that this game was theirs before I'd even started playing._

A hoarse voice dragged her kicking and screaming from the safe haven of her own mind, forcing her to listen, forcing her to hear the words that she'd never wanted them to say.

"The jinchuuriki."

Her mouth moved of it's own volition. "No."

The elders stiffened, the darkness casting shadows over wrinkles etched on skin like parchment, twisting, sneering, contorting...predators who had cornered their prey. "There is no choice, Tsunade-sama."

_There never was. You two...for all your words, your dependence on the law, your traditional ways...you play a dirty game. But there's nothing I can do. And I was foolish, to think that there was ever something I could've done._

She had let this get too personal, when "personal" was a path all shinobi were taught to steer away from. But she had ventured too far down the path less travelled ...she couldn't turn back, so she fought forward, letting her deepest fear reveal itself, knowing perfectly well it would be played against her in the next round.

"And if he dies?"

The darkness pressed against her, stifling, suffocating, chilling to the bone.

"He won't. Uzumaki Naruto cannot die."

* * *

Kami, he was going to die.

_She's gonna do it. She's really gonna kill me this time._

"Naruto!"

The Uzumaki flinched, scrambling around on all fours for something, anything, to use as a shield against the incoming demon. But really, he was pushing his luck, luck that he'd never bothered to save in the past. Luck that was now running out.

_Man, I should've run when I had the chance..._

His teammate was gaining on him, her speed fuelled by rage, arms and legs driving her forward in superhuman leaps and bounds. She was a blur, as fast and ruthless as the ill-tempered wind on a stormy day. The kind of wind that gave him goosebumps.

If someone saw him now...helpless and hopeless, cowering behind trembling arms, mangled hands dripping blood onto his beloved jumpsuit...it was safe to say he'd never hear the end of it...

"Ah shi-!"

_Crack!_

The punch came too early and way too hard...the deafening crack of his jaw the only warning he got before he found his cheek acquainted with the cold, hard pavement.

"What the hell, Sakura-chan?!"

"Shut up you idiot! You didn't tell me you were going off on a mission!"

_The fuck? What mission? Am I missing something here...?_

"...Are you even listening? Naruto!"

His gaze flicked up to meet piercing jade, as sharp as it was beautiful, and he cringed. It seemed that his silence had been misread for shame. A clear confession if he ever saw one.

_Except it's not._

Her shadow stood between him and his only way out, her hands resting casually on her cocked hips, ready to strike out should he dare run. Her face gave nothing away, not even the reason for her anger...a reason that continued to escape him.

_I should've escaped_ her.

He eyed her warily, flinching as she swung her arms by her sides, probably gearing up to deliver yet another jaw cracking blow.

But the blow never came.

"Wha-?"

He squinted at her through his arms, expecting her fist to connect with his head any moment now.

_A surprise attack...I wouldn't put it past her. At least not when she's angry._

But there was no chakra-laced fist, no stinging pain, no cry of fury. Nothing. Gingerly, he crawled to his feet, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Still nothing.

He searched her face uncertainly, just fast enough to catch a flicker of hurt stumble it's way across her face, too slow, too clumsy, for her to hide it in time.

She crossed her arms defensively. "Don't pretend with me..."

"Yeah sure..." he grumbled, recovering fast enough to deliver a comeback. "Like I'd pretend that I'm pretending not to know what the hell you're talking about. I'd be a masochist...I know I'd get my face smashed in for thinking it, let alone doing it."

She levelled another glare at him, but this one carried no venom, no violence, no underlying hint of whatever-it-was that always preceded her unpredictable rages. He could read it all in her eyes, they were sparking, but with amusement, not anger.

"And it's not like I signed up for any mission!" he rambled on. "Man, you'd think I'd know if I did."

"I just tho-"

"Hey Uzumaki! You've been summoned!"

_That voice...Kotetsu..._

Naruto whirled around just in time to dodge the flailing limbs of the older ninja as he skidded to a halt mere inches from his face.

_What's the hurry? Something's happened...baa-chan..._

"The old lady...she okay?"

The chuunin grinned. "You're lucky she's not here, 'cause if she heard that, trust me when I say _you_ won't be okay. That said, if you don't get your ass up there now..."

"Yeah, just wait-"

_I haven't found out what's up with Sakura-chan yet..._

"I'm not kidding, Uzumaki. Now."

"Just give me a second," he muttered distractedly, eyes too busy scrutinizing her, mind too busy connecting the dots, trying to piece together what little clues his teammate had let slip.

Kotetsu shrugged. "Your choice...but I'm serious, she's not in a good mood right now."

Naruto ignored him, turning instead to face his teammate. She was staring at the ground, her head bowed, tendrils of pink shielding her face from view.

"Sakura-chan."

She sighed, wringing her hands awkwardly, stubbornly refusing to meet his gaze. "I'm sorry..."

"I know you are."

"And don't you forget it," she teased half-heartedly, eyes following the reckless chuunin as he slipped and stumbled his way down the road.

He followed her gaze and grinned. "You know I won't. But hey, s'not like you won't do it again...so why apologize?"

"I'm just worried!" She snapped defensively, wrapping her arms tightly around her tense shoulders. "...You're the only one I have... you don't know-"

_But I do know. It took me awhile, but I've figured it out. It's your fear...the fear of loneliness, isn't it? That's what you're really angry at._

He patted her shoulder, ignoring the spark of irrational hurt when she shuddered under his touch. "I'll be fine..."

If only his reassurance could chase away her fear.

A corner of her mouth curved upwards. "Go kick-ass for me and then we'll talk."

_That's more like it._

He turned to leave, flashing a confident grin over his shoulder. "You bet I will."

"And you'd better come back," she whispered, "you idiot..."

He froze mid-step, swivelling around and retracing his steps until they were face-to-face, within arm's reach. He watched her intently, taking it all in - the stiffness of her shoulders, her lowered head and clenched hands, the whiteness of her knuckles - and for once, he was wise enough to stayed silent. Instead, he held his breath and closed the distance between them, embracing her. And for the first time, she didn't run, letting him chase away the doubt, the dread, the despair, with his warmth.

But words, they gave so much more than a simple touch ever could.

Which was why he forced himself to speak the word dangling at the tip of his tongue. "Always."

She raised her eyes, holding his gaze this time. "Yeah. Not like him."

_Is he the one on your mind? Is that what this is all about?_

"I'm so stupid..." she murmured to herself, so quietly his sharp ears nearly missed it. "I wish I could forget...I wish I could just let him go..."

It took everything he had to turn his back on her, to force his feet to lead him away. But he couldn't stop his thoughts from wandering down the road she had lost herself on.

_You and me both, Sakura-chan. You and me both._

* * *

_Where the hell is that brat? Hagane better not be slacking off again... _

Halting halfway through another round of patterned pacing, she peered through the window at the village below her, the village she'd been entrusted to protect, peaceful in all it's ignorance.

_Ignorance is bliss. Until it isn't._

She'd learned her lesson all too well...and all too late. The guilt that came from ignoring the obvious...it was eating away at her, twisting and turning her insides until she couldn't turn her thoughts to anything else. Her mind flashed blindingly between past and present, remembering, replaying the entire game in her head, recalling every single card on the table and every card to reach her hand.

_"You heard Nar "_

_ "...no options left...must ensure the peace treaty does not..." _

_"...protect the village...we can no longer afford..."_

_ "We have already let it go too far..."  
_

_"...cannot ignore his crimes..." _

Peace? It had all been a ploy; peace had never been what the council played for. No, everyone knew that most treaties were written to be broken, as long as there were still stupid, scheming, selfish people in a position to pull the strings.

_People like them._

And letting it go too far...that had been a mistake on her part, for deceiving herself into thinking he wasn't yet a lost cause, hanging on to those last threads of hope, like everyone else had. But the council, they'd left him alone out of fear. Selfishness. Denial. Only now, when they couldn't ignore what he'd done any longer, did they dare play their most desperate cards. And though those cards would end the game...their ignorance, their bliss, hadn't been worth the price.

They were all so eager to sentence, so fast to forget all about their own deeds, the cards pulled, the foul play risked. And worse, they'd been in on the game all along...Such hypocrites, all of them, preaching loyalty when they'd only ever been loyal to themselves. It was no surprise that their "best-laid plans" went awry. No, the only surprise was their refusal to take the blame.

_No, all of you blame me instead._

Pursing her lips, she glared kunai at the window, rolling out her aching wrists and clenched fingers.

She was in control. There was no need to let that anger take over. Not now. Not ever.

_Stay calm._

"...Tsunade-sama?"

"What!"

The harsh growl sprang from her throat without a warning, so sudden she didn't even have time to regret it. She could feel Shizune's reproachful gaze on her back, and she let her head fall forward to clink against the cool glass of the window, desperate to escape it.

"I'm sorry," she gritted out, palms pressed flat against the window.

Her assistant shrugged, cradling a startled Tonton to her chest and pointing to the door. "He's here."

_Finally._

"Let him in."

* * *

**A/N: **I know I've taken my own sweet time with this one, and I'm sorry for the extremely long and unreasonable wait. There's no one to blame but myself...and school, activities and life in general for being so damn busy. The rest of Part One will be up soon, I just have to edit out some bits here and there. For now, here's a sneak peak. Part Two and Three should be out before the end of July. Hopefully. And then once I finish this WIP...I'll continue work on the millions of one-shots I've written on a whim.

Until next time,

TJT


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